CRIVENS! COMICS & STUFF!: DO YOU BELIEVE IN LEGENDS?

Wednesday, 4 March 2015

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LEGENDS?

From the SMASH! Annual for 1970, comes The LEGEND TESTERS! DANNY CHARTERS and ROLLO STONES embark on yet another mission to test whether a legend from the past is true or not. It's a fascinating concept and I'm surprised that the strip wasn't continued for many years afterwards as it seems a rich vein to mine for action and adventure. I think IPC/FLEETWAY slipped up in not having Danny and Rollo in the revamped Smash!, or reviving them for VALIANT, or STARLORD, or even 2000 A.D. They would've been a perfect fit for either of the latter two, being, as they were, sci-fi comics.

In the U.S., at around the same time that the duo first appeared in ODHAMS' weekly Smash! comic (1966), was a TV programme called The TIME TUNNEL, although I'm unsure as to exactly when it was first shown on British television. It's interesting to speculate whether the Smash! strip was 'inspired' by the IRWIN ALLEN TV series, or was simply a twist on the BBC's DOCTOR WHO.

Will The Legend Testers ever live again in new adventures? Only time will tell, but for the moment, enjoy this look back at one of their exciting expeditions from over 45 years ago.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...: Great to see another Legend Testers story once again.. The early stories from Smash were brilliant eg The Flask Of Eterno. Whatever made Odhams drop the series still baffles me
Lionel; 17 March 2015 at 07:46
Kid said...: Me too. I doubt the makers of The Time Tunnel had heard of The Legend Testers, so it's unlikely that there was any legal pressure brought to bear. 'Tis a mystery.; 17 March 2015 at 13:02
TC said...: The Time Tunnel premiered on ABC (American Broadcasting Company) in September 1966. I don't know if that was before or after the first Legend Testers strip was published, but I doubt that either series influenced the other. Of course, both were preceded by Doctor Who. And by Mr. Peabody's Improbable History, for that matter. :); 21 March 2015 at 04:09
Kid said...: Smash! came out in February of 1966, if I remember rightly, so it looks like there was no connection to The Time Tunnel. I've got the complete DVD set, but have still to watch it all.; 21 March 2015 at 05:33

About the artist:

From 1985 to 2000 A.D. (little joke there), I contributed to a variety of high profile comics and magazines for various companies.

For IPC/FLEETWAY/EGMONT, I freelanced as a lettering and logo artist on various weekly comics and monthly magazines, and also as a resize comic artist and spot illustrator on pocket books, summer specials and annuals.

For MARVEL U.K., BLACK LIBRARY, REDAN and USBORNE BOOKS, I again freelanced as a lettering artist, also working as a restoration artist for MARVEL U.S., restoring and re-creating certain pages of JACK KIRBY art for their MARVEL MASTERWORKS editions.

I also lettered the MARVELMAN sample pages submitted to MARVEL U.S. when they were considering acquiring the character, which - as we all now know - they DID.

Supplied comic strips, cartoons and illustrated advertisements for local business campaigns and newspaper publication on a professional basis since the age of 16. Did my first paid art job for publication at 14 or 15 for Lanarkshire Education Board.

Have also made TV appearances as a collector of memorabilia.

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Just some of the titles I worked on are:

2000 A.D. * JUDGE DREDD MEGAZINE * DICEMAN * SONIC The COMIC * JUDGE DREDD, LAWMAN Of The FUTURE * CRISIS * REVOLVER * EAGLE * TIGER * BATTLE ACTION-FORCE * BUSTER * WHIZZER & CHIPS * WHOOPEE * NIPPER * SCHOOL FUN * ACE VENTURA, PET DETECTIVE * The REAL GHOSTBUSTERS * DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE * COUNT DUCKULA * RUGRATS * The TRANSFORMERS * DEATH'S HEAD * THUNDERCATS * GALAXY RANGERS * DRAGON'S CLAWS * SINDY * MARVEL MASTERWORKS * The TROLLS * LOADED * INFERNO * WARHAMMER * ROSE BLACK.

Copyright Notice:

Images remain the property of their respective copyright owners and are used here only for the purpose of review, promotion, and nostalgia.

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In the case of images culled from my own collection where copyright of an item isn't mine, I impose no copying restrictions on fellow bloggers.

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And while you can credit this blog if you like, it's not mandatory. Who has time to make notes of every casually visited site during an idle browse of the internet?

In the case of anyone copying images of my own artwork and calligraphy, I affirm my right to be identified as the creator, and any such copying should not be for the purpose of monetary or material gain. (Unless it's mine.)

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